Friday, May 22, 2015

STRICTLY POSITIVE

The first item this week is not really going to be an item because it isn't really a positive thing, at least not this week. But it has been a positive thing for me for almost forty years, so I wanted to say a little something about that positivity and how I'll miss it. David Letterman's last Late Show aired this week and I am firmly in denial (haven't watched it yet, not sure when I will). I've gone from watching Dave as a young, sarcastic, comedic curmudgeon to watching Dave as an older, wiser, softer, sarcastic comedic curmudgeon. I think I first saw him in ~1977, either on The Tonight Show or on the short-lived but very funny television series Mary, starring Mary Tyler Moore.

It was fascinating watching Dave change once he had a son, and his views on the environment, politics, and nature, among other things, were pushed to the forefront and voiced by him more than ever before. I liked softy Dave, but loved when that soft came through via the snark, such as in the wonderful bit "Stooge of the Day." Nothing irked Dave more than idiots, narcissists, and aholes. I felt a bit of the kindred spirit in Dave.

Johnny Carson will always be the King of Late Night to me, but Dave is only the slightest smidge behind. No one but Dave even approaches Johnny's ability to play the straight man, particularly to animal guests, to create smart (yet oftentimes idiotic) humor from his annoyance at stupid people, and willingness to play the rube. I didn't think we'd ever have a late night host as impactful as Johnny, but Dave proved me wrong. I think he'll be the last, that it's truly the end of an era. I find it fitting that Johnny was Dave's hero. They have both left me with a pretty wonderful set of memories. I have only six framed photographs on display in my house. Johnny and Dave are two of them.

Thanks, David Letterman, I'm going to miss the hell out of you.

Exhibit A: While I'm on the subject of late night hosts, here's a bit about a nicety done by Stephen Colbert, who will be taking over for Dave at the Late Show desk in the near future. Colbert recently announced he would fund every existing grant request made by a South Carolina teacher on DonorsChoose.org. That means Colbert funded 1,000 projects for more than 800 teachers at over 375 schools. Well done, faux Republican.

Exhibit B: I'm sure you've all likely seen this already, but I don't care, it still tickles me. President Obama took to Twitter for the first time and was immediately hit with the funny by former President Bill Clinton. It didn't take old BO long to get the hang of things, however, and he hit back with his own zinger:

Also, Barack Obama may have the most boring feed of all time:

Exhibit C: Proof Mother Nature is a genius. OREO COWS:

Exhibit D: Anyone who knows me knows I'm a bit anti-Photoshop. I think it has to some extent ruined photography as well as added to the stupid idea that we all need to try and look perfect. However, that being said, there are genius uses for Photoshop that I'm all for, and this is one of those. John Wilhelm uses Photoshop to create wacky, adventurous photos of his three little girls in all kinds of fun and creative situations. Here are a few favorites, including one of the girls as Batman and Robin:

Exhibit E: Don't fear, this one ends ok despite the photo. A Reddit user came along this scene, which appeared to be a gruesomely injured cat. Most people just walked on by, but Reddit person decided to help the cat and took pictures as he/she approached. The photo series is below, along with the Redditer's quotes:

"Saw this cat bleeding out."

"So I ran to its rescue."

"It was just dried red paint."

"Smug bastard."

I had to laugh. I wonder how often this cat pulls this "prank." (It all also seems a bit fishy, but I don't care if it's fake, it's clever and made me laugh. And I know the feeling of thinking something is a dead animal, only to get close and feel the relief of it being a discarded rag or t-shirt. I felt the same thing going through this photo series, whether it was real or all made up.)

Exhibit F: I thought this video was awesome when I saw it and thought I would share. And not just to show off that I finally figured out how to embed a video rather than having to link and send you off on goose chases. Yes, I'm leaping into the 21st Century with both feet now, cooking with gas. In any event, Alex Lyngass thinks his mom Eva is aces and in order to help find her a boyfriend, made this super video about her and what she likes in life. She seems like a fun lady to hang out with and at almost 70 would kick my ass in most of her favorite activities:

The embedding worked! If I wasn't so behind the times I would be talking up my genius right now. Instead, we will carry on and also just pretend that the whole right hand side of the video isn't cut off. Baby steps.

Exhibit G: This week's goat vine is a little different, but no less entertaining:

Obligatories: A bit short on Bird shots this week. The poor girl had to have surgery, and took it like a champ, but looks like she's actually wearing a skull skullcap. Epic shave job from top of her head down one ear. I tell her boys dig scars and glory lasts forever. She's unimpressed.

To make up for the non-glam shot, here's another from our shoot with Amanda Jones:

That's all for this week, kids. A huge thank you to those of you who mention you look forward to this post. Some weeks are downers and I might not feel like putting something together, but you keep me going and I always feel better for having done so. So thank you.

8 comments:

I'm also in denial and incredibly sad about Letterman. It's really the end of an wonderful era. I'm 30, and so he's literally been on the air longer than I've been alive! His show is the first television I remember watching, and I've loved it ever since.

It's been a hard year for change in late night - my 3 favorite late night shows are/were The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and Letterman, so it's kind of like 3 punches to the gut this year. I think the thing I hate most about the late night changes is that - unlike when our favorite sitcoms or dramas end - there's not an easy/good way to re-watch them. Re-runs don't air, you can't just go onto Netflix and watch old episodes. There are clips on YouTube, but it's not the same. How I'd love to be able to go to an online archive and queue up an old, full episode of Letterman from the 90s to watch - start to finish! I really hope that as our digital accessibility and archiving continues to improve, this is something they'll consider providing. And how wonderful would it be for the past shows as well!? The Carol Burnett show, Johnny Carson, etc. I know there are a few DVDs of best episodes & highlights, but I want ALL episodes, in their entirety! (Yes, I'm exceedingly greedy!)

Ok enough ranting from me - this is supposed to be positive! The positive about this triple gut punch is that Stephen Colbert IS coming back, and I'm thankful to be able to continue to watch him. It won't be the same, but I know he'll do a good job with the show.

It sounds like you have the same relationship with Dave that I had with Johnny, so I totally get that. It's a hard change! And it's very funny, I was just bemoaning the other day that no one makes these shows available. I can't believe people wouldn't watch them. Some of that old stuff is gold.

It has been a bit of a late night punch with all the good folks we're losing. I really miss Craig Ferguson as well, who was my go-to late night person after Dave. He was so much fun and brought such a light tone to late night.

I also feel the same about Dave. I started really watching him over 20 years ago in college and fell in love with his snark and agree watching him change once he had his surgery and then his son was a beautiful thing.The cat! What a little shit...but I love that about cats. And the video with the son for his Mom kills me! Forget the mom...what about this son?! I'm married, so not for me, but any guy that would do this for his mom and look at her so endearingly....sigh!

Yes, you're spot-on about Dave's surgery also having an impact, I was remiss not to mention that. I also miss Larry Bud Melman. :) I can't believe the marquee is down already. Wish I could have snagged a piece of it. Cats are shits, but that is part of their charm, isn't it? And yes, son is a catch!

About Malcolm Avenue Review

I was lucky enough to be born and raised in a nifty, oak-shaded ranch house on Malcolm Avenue, a wide-laned residential street with little through traffic, located amid the foothills of Northern California. It was on that street and in that house I learned most of my adolescent life lessons, and many grown-up ones to boot. Malcolm Avenue was "home" for more than thirty years.

It was on Malcolm Avenue, through and with my family and the other families that made up our neighborhood of characters, that I first learned about and gained an appreciation for the things I continue to love the most to this day: music, animals, photography, sports, television/movies and, of course, books.

I owe a debt of gratitude to that life on Malcolm Avenue. It gave me a sense of community and friendship, support and adventure. For better and worse, life on that street likely had the biggest impact on the person I've become. So this blog, and the things I write here, are all, at their base level, a little bit of a love letter to Malcolm Avenue.